‘Why are they so annoying... these kids....'
It was irritating. So irritating I could go crazy.
'I absolutely won't get involved with you people!'
That was what she firmly resolved, and then this happened the very next day.
'Euuugh...!'
Rellia watched the children gathered and whispering, clutching her hair in distress.
A small, frail boy with silver hair.
Oscar Hresvelg was trembling as if having a seizure. And the children just watched from a distance.
Honestly, for Rellia, she could have just ignored it or called a priest.
'But... if it's not corrected now while he's young, Oscar will suffer from this forever....'
I don't know. Don't care.
Don't care... I won't...!
Actually, if she hadn't awakened to her past life memories, she could have comfortably ignored it. At the very least, she would have whispered fearfully like those other children.
But Rellia, having memories of her past life, could think somewhat more maturely.
Even if that just meant being able to think more like an adult than her peers. Still.
She couldn't pretend not to see a poor child trembling in fear.
At least she was that kind of person.
'...Ugh, whatever!'
Unable to bear it, Rellia pushed through the children.
"What are you all doing? Go call the priests quickly!"
Rellia shouted at the children who were just watching, then quickly removed Oscar's priestly cap and robe.
Then she unbuttoned the inner garment constricting his throat and cupped the boy's cheek in her hand.
"Oscar Hresvelg. Snap out of it. The hallucinations you're seeing are all fake. Calm down. This place is safe, and you're unharmed. Don't listen to what that person is telling you!"
"Huu... hic...."
"Look at my eyes. Listen to me, Oscar!"
"Huu...."
Oscar's pupils were dilated. He was witnessing a horrific scene from his childhood, watching dozens of people being cut down by swords and dying before his eyes.
Since then, he occasionally suffered from bloody hallucinations.
'Hallucinations of corpses dripping blood and screaming to be saved.'
Perhaps because of that trauma, he might become a madman who goes berserk at the sight of blood.
Rellia kept speaking to Oscar, who was breaking out in cold sweat, until his pupils returned to normal.
"Everything that person says is bullshit, Oscar. You're safe. Everything you see is an illusion. So...."
Those words Oscar would be hearing.
Rellia remembered the scene from the original work where the grown Oscar calmly spoke of his wounds.
"Do you know why your eyes are red? The blood of those who died before your eyes back then splashed into them. Otherwise, why would only your eyes be so hideous in this imperial family? You're a monster. A monster!"
Oscar grew up hearing such words from his own father, the Emperor. Rellia was dumbfounded.
'He's the one who killed people in front of his own son, that madman!'
That Emperor was even a psychopath who killed Oscar's mother.
That shameless Emperor's voice tormented Oscar for his entire life. The only child among the Hresvelg imperial family with red eyes.
Those pupils were both a curse and shackles that would torment Oscar for life.
But a single word from the original female protagonist:
"Your eyes are truly beautiful."
With those words, Oscar forgot his unhappy childhood and found salvation.
'When I read it in the novel, I just thought that's how it was....'
Actually seeing Oscar before her eyes, she couldn't bear to watch.
Unlike in the novel, the Oscar before her was too small, too thin, too young.
She had never imagined he would have such wretchedly fragile childhood years. That's why she couldn't turn away.
Rellia grasped Oscar's slender shoulders and held him firmly. She locked eyes with him and kept speaking. Telling him he was okay.
Fortunately, it worked.
His rough breathing gradually calmed, and his dilated pupils began to return to normal.
"What is happening!"
"His Highness Crown Prince Oscar!"
The priests who appeared at the children's call quickly examined Oscar's condition.
The priests infused holy power into Oscar, but this wasn't an illness that could be fixed with holy power.
'Still, it should calm him down a bit.'
Rellia stared intently at the priests' retreating figures as they carried Oscar away, then let out a relieved breath.
Oscar, held by the priest, looked at Rellia with slowly blinking eyes as if about to faint.
"Are you actually a heretic?"
That's when it happened.
Romeo Roseberry whispered in a very sweet voice from over her shoulder. As if sharing a secret.
"...."
Rellia turned to look at him with an annoyed expression.
"I'll keep your secret."
Romeo looked at the surrounding children and said that again.
'I want to punch him.'
Rellia clenched her fist and stood up. She started walking to go somewhere else, but she felt someone following behind.
"Why are you following me?"
"I'm thinking of changing religions too."
"I don't believe in heretic stuff."
"Then what was that just now? What kind of spell did you cast?"
Romeo asked with narrowed eyes, sounding suspicious.
"I just calmed him down. It was a simple seizure."
"Isn't he possessed by a demon?"
That was how ordinary people perceived it. The Emperor who sent Oscar here probably knew too.
'What nickname and distorted gaze Oscar will gain here.'
Once or twice could be overlooked, but if seizures repeatedly occur during the three years living here....
The temple would also become suspicious of Oscar. That he might be possessed by a demon.
Moreover, there were dozens of witnesses, and they were all imperial and noble children from various countries.
'Oscar's father wants to make another prince the successor instead of Oscar, so he's probably trying to lower his public reputation.'
However, Oscar eventually kills his own father in the original work and becomes Emperor. Honestly, it served him right.
Rellia said nonchalantly to Romeo:
"There are no demons. He just saw something shocking and got scared, seeing things. You have nightmares too, right? It's like that."
"Who has nightmares with their eyes open?"
"...There are people."
"No logic so you're just insisting? The Crown Prince of Auralia is a bit beneath standard."
Rellia bit her lip firmly. If she let her guard down, curses would spill out.
'This insolent bastard.'
She felt it yesterday too, but something felt off.
'In the original work, he acted so kind and gentle in front of the female protagonist. Was it all fake?'
Rellia looked at Romeo with disgust.
'Even though he has wounds not so different himself.'
Rellia stomped her feet as she walked, showing her displeasure.
She intended to go to the library, but with this mood, she thought she needed to take a walk first.
As she huffed and headed to the garden, at some point she turned her head and saw Romeo Roseberry still following behind.
Rellia looked at him and shouted threateningly:
"Hey, won't you get lost?"
"Oh. Now showing your true colors?"
Romeo acted surprised but also entertained.
"I don't think I need to be polite to someone like you."
"Ew. How thrilling."
Saying that, Romeo approached closer with an expression that was not thrilled at all.
Then he made Rellia sit on a bench right next to them and sat beside her.
Rellia brushed off her forearm where Romeo's hand had touched. Even though it should have been unpleasant, Romeo didn't care and spoke up.
"Tell me more."
"About what?"
"About people who have nightmares with their eyes open. Tell me more."
Romeo asked in a tone like a threat.
'Right, you'd be curious.'
He was just a child. Rellia scoffed internally.
She could see Romeo's eyes trembling slightly as he waited for an answer. Rellia spoke as if doing a favor.
"People's minds are very fragile. This head is fragile."
"...."
She pointed to her own head with her index finger.
"What's inside here is too fragile, persistent, and nasty. Witness a somewhat shocking scene? Then it keeps remembering it. Then when the body gets weak or tired, it keeps making you recall that memory."
"So?"
"What do you think happens if that repeats? It would be really hard. So that shocking scene keeps reappearing in your head. To the point of mistaking it for what's actually visible to your eyes."
"...."
"Sometimes you even hear it with your ears. Fragile people suffer their whole lives and eventually die. Some even take their own lives."
At those words, Romeo's expression twisted severely. He spoke slowly.
"Suicide is... a tremendous sin."
It was one of the most important doctrines of the Kreuz Order.
The temple strictly forbade the act of taking one's own life, considering it a terrible sin that couldn't be forgiven even through multiple regressions.
It was an act of betrayal, offering one's own soul to demons.
Everyone on the continent knew that. Rellia didn't deny it.
"It is a sin. Still, such people exist. People who keep seeing and hearing terrible scenes, fearful voices...."
"That's being possessed by a...."
"It's not demons. They're just suffering. Being tormented like this, they can't think properly and come to believe that only by dying will it end."
"...Have you ever experienced that?"
"No? My mind is very healthy? I haven't seen anything particularly shocking...."
She had hallucinated food from being too hungry. But after eating ravenously, it turned out to be dirt or snow....
"Anyway, he's not possessed by a demon. Actually, I don't even know if demons really exist...."
"...If you say that to priests or adults, you'll be treated as a heretic."
"Ah."
Right.
She was supposed to stay quiet here....
'If the rumor spreads that Auralia's Crown Prince is a heretic? The Emperor might strangle me to death.'
Rellia thought for a moment then glared at Romeo.
Romeo looked somewhat shaken by Rellia's words. His expression seemed somehow excited, sad, and frightened all at once.
Rellia thrust her clenched fist forward, pretending to be tough.
"If you tell anyone, you die."
"...Now you're threatening me? So low-class?"
"Yes. I'll kill you. Understand?"
"...."
Romeo looked a bit frightened. Rellia gained courage from that expression.
'Right, you're just a ten-year-old child.'
Rellia patted her chest with a haughty expression and said:
"From now on, call me not 'you'... but Big Brother."
Romeo's face twisted terribly.
"...What? I hate that! Why should I? I'm the one holding your weakness!"
"Then call me Boss."
"...."
Romeo frowned. He looked like he didn't understand why he should do that.
Still, eventually, he nodded.
He apparently judged that Boss was better than Big Brother.
"Then... tell me more of that story. I won't tell anyone."
"...."
"I won't even suspect you're a heretic."
"Well... if you put it that way. You mean the story that people like Oscar aren't possessed by demons? I can do that anytime."
Rellia knew why Romeo was interested in this story.
But she kept her expression controlled as if she knew nothing.
In the original work, Romeo confessed his own circumstances directly to the female protagonist. So she couldn't pretend to know first.
'Someday the day will come when Romeo confesses his inner circumstances directly to the female protagonist and heals his wounds.'
Rellia glanced at Romeo.
Romeo looked somewhat desperate. Thinking of his circumstances from the original work, she felt a bit sorry for him.
"...."
When Rellia stared intently, Romeo's expression crumpled a bit.
He probably thought she was urging him to call her 'Boss' quickly.
"Thank you... Boss...."
"...Right, you're my subordinate from now on."
"...."
Romeo frowned as if displeased, but kept his mouth shut.
"I'm going for a walk, so follow me."
Rellia said that and rose from the bench, walking through the garden. Romeo followed behind her.
'He listens well. Even though his tone was fierce just a moment ago.'
Rellia glanced at the well-behaved Romeo and laughed inside. At the same time, she looked at Romeo with pity.
Actually, Romeo's biological mother who gave birth to him passed away when he was young.
'The cause was... suicide.'
The Roseberry Empire desperately hid that fact, but they couldn't stop young Romeo from witnessing the scene directly.
Examining the cause of suicide, her parents, that is, Romeo's maternal grandmother and grandfather, were largely responsible.
'Parents driving their own child to death.'
Romeo's mother had someone she loved, but due to family coercion, she ended up marrying the Emperor.
But even after becoming Empress, she couldn't erase her lingering feelings for the man she loved and suffered.
Her parents got their wish of making their daughter Empress, but they learned that the relationship between the imperial couple was distant.
Then, furious, they found out the cause through the maids.
"The reason the imperial couple's relationship is unclear is because the Empress rejects the Emperor. That's why."
Actually, there was another cause, but the Empress's parents, hearing only the maids' words, were disappointed in their daughter and raged.
Then they sought a solution, and unfortunately, that method was....
'Threatening their daughter.'
They held the life of the man their daughter loved and threatened her. To fulfill her duty as Empress, to bear the Emperor's child.
Unable to overcome that threat, she conceived Romeo.
The fortunate thing was that the Emperor didn't blame her and waited for her heart to open slowly.
The Emperor, despite it being a political marriage, genuinely tried to treat her with love.
'He was also a kind father to Romeo.'
But the misfortune started from there.
The Empress's parents, Romeo's maternal grandmother and grandfather, kept prodding their daughter's weakness.
Whenever they wanted something, they threatened her by holding the life of the man she had loved.
On a day when such conflicts repeated.
The man, learning that his own life was the woman he loved's weakness, took his own life.
'Probably knowing that as long as he lived, the Empress would suffer her whole life, he couldn't bear it.'
After that, Romeo's mother fell ill and suffered. She started seeing hallucinations of the man she loved dying before her eyes and hearing hallucinations of him begging to be saved.
Her condition grew increasingly serious, and not only did she have seizures, but she also suffered from sleepwalking.
The rumor that the Empress was possessed by a demon spread in an instant.
Suffering like that, she chose freedom by taking her own life, just as the man she loved had left the world.
Without ever imagining that young Romeo would witness that scene.
As she lay dying while bleeding, she discovered Romeo crying, said "I'm sorry," and passed away.
Romeo too would still have the shock from that time.
'At least thanks to having a somewhat healthier mind than Oscar, he doesn't seem to see hallucinations or hear voices.'
After Romeo's death, the new Empress who ascended cherished and raised Romeo like her own son.
Though not his biological mother, Romeo grew up receiving the love of a kind stepmother and affectionate father.
'But he gave up the throne because of his maternal grandmother and grandfather, poor guy.'
After Romeo's stepmother bore a son, Romeo's maternal grandmother and grandfather began trembling with anxiety. Worried that their grandson, their only remaining hope, might not become Emperor.
So they even planned to kill the new Empress's son, but young Romeo suddenly gave up the throne.
Actually, Romeo had heard nobles visiting the imperial castle secretly pointing fingers.
"The former Empress was surely possessed by a demon. Who knows when her son Crown Prince Romeo might become a demon too."
Perhaps that's why he was afraid. Afraid that he too might really be possessed by a demon.
Romeo begged his father to allow him to give up the throne, using his maternal grandparents as an excuse, and the Emperor understood Romeo's deeper meaning and accepted his heart.
Then he sent Romeo's maternal grandparents far away. To prevent them from reaching toward Romeo.
'He's actually quite deep-minded when you look at it.'
His mouth is quite troublesome though....
Anyway.
'I tried not to get involved if possible.'
But somehow she ended up making one of the future heroes who would defeat the Mad Dragon into her subordinate.
'Well, it should be fine. Just one of them.'
Rellia thought something had gone wrong, but it was already too late.
The next day.
Rellia looked at Romeo who had come to play in her room and seriously contemplated.
Something seemed very, very wrong.
"Why are you here?"
"To play with Boss."
When she woke up, washed, and came out, Romeo was there.
Romeo was lying on the sofa reading a book, and when she went closer to check, it was a humor collection sold only in bookstores in the city.
'Phew. I thought he was reading something strange....'
She thought he might be reading obscene books and was startled.
'Well, he's still only a ten-year-old child... I'm the only corrupted one.'
Rellia awkwardly reached for the snacks on the table. Romeo must have brought them.
"Do you find that kind of thing funny?"
"Want to see too, Boss?"
Romeo handed her another book nearby, and Rellia opened the book as if she had no choice.
"Childish, what's so funny about this kind of thing...."
And a moment later, Rellia's cackling laughter filled the room.
"...."
Romeo looked at her with a pathetic expression.
That's when it happened.
Knock knock.
A sound of someone knocking on Rellia's door was heard.
'Who could it be?'
The only person who would visit her room was a priest. It was quiet outside as if waiting for Rellia's permission to enter.
Rellia looked at Romeo sitting across from her. After hesitating briefly, Romeo sighed, stood up abruptly, and headed toward the door.
'Hmm. He does well even when I didn't tell him. Like a real subordinate? Kind of convenient...?'
Right, she had to live here for at least three years. Having a subordinate would be quite convenient.
"Huh?"
But the person who opened the door and entered was unexpected.
'I thought priests came to tell us to pray....'
The children staying here were imperial royalty, or at least nobles, so even the priests tended to be cautious.
Unless they were fighting or going outside, they didn't really force or control their activities much.
'Except for certain activities, that is.'
Those certain activities were things they deliberately made children do to help them get close and unite... simply put, things like sports festivals.
Anyway, most of the time being free time was certain. Sometimes if she stayed holed up in her room, they did tell her to come out and pray.
"What is it, you?"
"...."
The one who came to Rellia's room was Oscar. Oscar Hresvelg, who had collapsed from a seizure yesterday.
"I'm asking what it is. Why did you come here, brat? Did your mouth hole get blocked? Want me to open it?"
'That bastard Romeo, really....'
Rellia was flustered.
'A kid raised by kind parents... where did he learn such words?'
But even as Romeo asked with a scowl, Oscar just glared at him with an expressionless face.
Oscar was so small and thin that he was still smaller in build than Romeo.
'Even smaller than me.'
Of course, in the future, he would grow big enough to hold the female protagonist in his arms, and to an enormous physique similar to Romeo's.
But right now, he was very tiny.
Still, he showed no sign of being intimidated by Romeo.
'Well, he'll become Emperor after all. And... famous as a terrifying Emperor at that. He must have strong spirit.'
Rellia stepped in before Romeo could spill more harsh words.
"Hey, Romeo. Don't scare a kid who came for no reason."
"...Understood, Boss."
Romeo wrinkled his lips at Rellia's words but quietly stepped aside. He certainly listened very well.
Oscar slowly entered the room and walked up to Rellia.
"Hello. What brings you here?"
"W-well...."
"First, sit down."
Rellia kindly patted the seat next to her. After hesitating briefly, Oscar sat where she indicated.
"W-well... y-yesterday, th-thank you for h-helping me.... I came to s-say that...."
"Don't mention it. It's fine."
Rellia answered with a slightly awkward expression.
'Actually, I was going to ignore it....'
Hearing thanks when she had helped after much hesitation made her feel awkward and guilty.
'Hearing thanks makes me feel unnecessarily sorry.'
Rellia pointed to the snacks on the table for Oscar.
"Are you hungry? Want some snacks?"
Romeo brought them, but.
Rellia kindly put a cookie in Oscar's hand. Her intention was to resolve her guilt by giving him food.
"Th-thank you.... I'll eat well."
Romeo, who had closed the door and returned, had an expression that said he had a lot to say but was holding back.
Then he sat across from them, looking Oscar up and down with disapproving eyes.
It was an openly unpleasant gaze. But Oscar acted as if he didn't care at all.
"Do you stutter too?"
"...."
Romeo asked toward Oscar.
Rellia glared at such Romeo, but Romeo smoothly avoided her gaze. Oscar, holding the cookie, spoke.
"S-sometimes when I'm n-nervous... or s-surprised, I do this...."
"You s-seem to d-do that e-every day?"
Romeo deliberately stuttered to mock Oscar. His sarcastic attitude was extremely brazen.
"Hey, that's enough."
When Rellia finally stepped in, Romeo twitched his lips.
"You shouldn't tease a friend."
"Who's a friend! Who would be friends with a stutterer like that?"
Romeo shouted and stood up angrily. Then he went to Rellia's study instead of the living room where they were.
The room Rellia stayed in was divided like a house with a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and study. It was obvious she was getting special treatment as a Crown Prince.
Of course, other children's rooms were divided the same way, but hers was a bit larger in square footage.
'That brat... he's ten, so he is technically an elementary schooler though.'
Rellia sighed looking at Romeo's retreating figure and apologized to Oscar instead.
"Sorry, Oscar. I'll apologize on his behalf. Even though he looks like that... he's not that bad... I think, and he's not inherently ill-natured."
"It's f-fine. It's not exactly w-wrong anyway.... I d-don't have friends."
"What?"
"Who would l-like someone who st-stutters like me."
Rellia frowned at Oscar's words. Oscar had an expression that said he wasn't hurt at all.
She felt unnecessarily heartbroken. Why does such a young child accept that as natural?
"Hey, what kind of words are those? Why wouldn't you have friends? You can be friends with me! I even helped you.... If I hated you, would I have helped? So don't think like that."
"E-even knowing I st-stutter... y-you would have h-helped me?"
"Hey, of course!"
"Th-thank you...."
At Rellia's matter-of-fact answer, Oscar lowered his head briefly and fidgeted with his fingers as if embarrassed.
Then he said "Ah!" and raised his head to ask:
"B-by the way, d-do you know my n-name?"
"Yeah. You're the Crown Prince of the Hresvelg Empire."
"I s-saw you for the f-first time yesterday."
"...I suppose. Before that, I was living very quietly, as if I wasn't even here."
She intended to keep living like that... but she couldn't pretend not to see Oscar.
Watching Rellia sigh, Oscar pointed to the room Romeo had entered.
"B-but why does h-he call you B-Boss?"
"Ah... um... well, I'm just so cool? He said he felt admiration watching me calm you down."
Rellia lied naturally. At the same time, she kept glancing toward the study, worried Romeo might burst out yelling "What! What kind of bullshit is that! Want me to seal your mouth hole?"
"I s-see...."
"Yeah."
"Th-then... can I call you Boss too?"
He definitely only stutters when nervous, and it seemed to improve as they talked.
But what did you just say?
"Me?"
Rellia froze for a moment, only blinking.
Suddenly, the dialogue and scene she had read in the original work came to mind.
Oscar was a character who killed his own father and became Emperor.
After that, he was called the Bloody Emperor, a cruel patricide....
Actually, that scene was also where Oscar broke free from his childhood trauma and took revenge on his mother's behalf.
And Oscar... said this while killing his own father:
"Father, I will now cut down anyone who stands above me. You will be the beginning."
Recalling the original work in a daze, Oscar spoke once more looking at Rellia:
"I w-want to call you B-Boss too...."
"...."
Um... well....
Rellia thought for a moment.
"Please... let me call you that...."
She absolutely wanted to say no... but Oscar's eyes as he asked to be allowed looked so earnest.
Honestly, Oscar was too small, weak, and in a word, born to trigger protective instincts.
His fine silver hair, pale skin, and red eyes were innocent and fragile.
Even in the original work, the grown Oscar was said to boast beauty enough to captivate people with his appearance.
He certainly had tremendous looks even though still young.
Honestly, Rellia was worried about being exposed as female, but coming here, Romeo and Oscar were both such prettily built children that she could lower her worry a bit.
"...Can't I? B-because I showed that kind of appearance yesterday... and st-stutter?"
"No... that's not it...."
If he calls me Boss, I'm afraid I might die later....
'My goal is to survive though....'
As she hesitated, soon tears began to well up in Oscar's pupils.
At that lovely sight, exactly like a kitten crying, her lips moved on their own.
"You can! You can! Why not! Call me that, call me that!"
Just before the tears rolled down, Rellia barely shouted.
"R-really?"
Oscar blinked. Clear tears flowed down. Rellia frantically wiped those tears with the tip of her thumb.
'Still ten years old... why is he so small?'
Is it because he couldn't grow properly due to his father? Oscar was so pitiful.
Actually, among the children from various countries who came to the temple, the officially youngest child was nine.
In reality, Rellia was seven, so strictly speaking, they were all her older sisters or brothers.
But Oscar felt like a younger sibling.
'I feel like I need to protect him somehow.'
The psychology of wanting to play the older sister role surged up strongly.
She could think somewhat like an adult thanks to her past life memories, but as a seven-year-old body, there were limits.
Ultimately, Rellia was also an unavoidable child. A young child wanting to play the older sister or brother role.
'No matter what, he wouldn't kill me, right? I should treat him as best as I can....'
Unaware of what determination Rellia was making internally, Oscar smiled brightly with tears still at the corners of his eyes.
"I th-thought you hated me too."
"...."
That smile was so clear and pretty that Rellia momentarily stopped breathing. Exactly like a winter fairy.
"D-do you perhaps... hate it...?"
When Rellia didn't answer, Oscar asked anxiously.
"No? How could that be? I don't hate you at all."
At the definite answer, Oscar smiled as if embarrassed.
'Right, well. If you like it, that's fine....'
But right now. Is this okay?
Rellia blinked blankly for a moment.
'People's lives are unpredictable, but....'
And so somehow... she ended up making two future heroes who would defeat the Mad Dragon into her subordinates.
'Well... two should be fine.'
It'll be fine....